Blade holder with pneumatic release



Nov. 28, 1961 F. H. GOYETTE 3,010,134

BLADE HOLDER WITH PNEUMATIC RELEASE Filed Feb. 18, 1960 3 E14 FIGB mm\QWE D\4o 22 40 6 2o IN VE NTOR FRANCIS HENRY GOYETTE ATTORNEY FrancisH. Goyette,Worcester-, Mass,

ted tees BLADE HOLDER WiTH PNEUMATEC RELEASE assignor to LoddingEngineering Corporation, Auburn, Mass, 3 corporation of MassachusettsFiled Feb. 18, 196i), Ser. No. 9,489 16 Qlainis. (Cl. 15236) atedrelease so that blades may be taken out, reversed or substituted almostinstantaneously, the blade-holding means or clamp being opened only bythe fluid pressure, the closing of the jaws of the device beingoccasioned by the inherent resiliency of the metal or other material ofwhich the blade holder itself is made, this forming an extremelypowerful and accurate blade-holding means, preventing the blade from anymotion in the holder and also having the extremely important function ofpreventing the entry of any detritus, fuzz or the like into the ladsholder.

One of the great problems in the prior art with doctor and wiping bladesis that as a result of operation, the paper-making rolls provide a greatdeal of detritus and fuzz which gets into the blade holders and hardens,and all blade-holdin means for doctors and other blades have to beperiodically cleaned. By providing apositive grip and a novel type offiuid pressure operated release, this invention serves to prevent thereception of such detritus.

A still further object of the invention resides in a blade "holder ofthe class described which comprises essentially a pair of strong steelblade clamping members which are fixedly. secured together at one areain such a way that at the blade-holding area thereof which is remotefrom thesecuring area they inherently apply pressure, one jaw member onthe other, and by this means the blade is maintained firmly in desiredposition. When it is desired to open the clamping jaws, pneumaticpressure is applied between the members, forcing the same apart a slightamount but suflicient to provide for removal of an old blade andinsertion of a new one, and then as soon as the pneumatic pressure isremoved, the clamping jaws (bladeholding areas) return to theirblade-clamping position automatically. Thus it is only necessary toutilize the power, i.e., the pneumatic pressure, when it is desired toopen the jaws, and at all other times the bladeis held in positionmerely by the powerful inherent resiliency of the blade-clamping membersthemselves.

The invention further relates to arrangements anticombinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly'set forth inthe appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view infroutelevationof the new blade holder;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

RIG. 3 is a section on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sections showing the action of the blade holding jawswhen open and closed respectively.

In carrying out this invention, the same comprises a pair of generallyflat, elongated main clamping jaw members or plates and these aregenerally indicated at and 12. These members are preferably of somestrong, rigid, resilient material which will flex to a slight extent,such as steel.

These two steel members or plates are finished and are bolted fiatwisetogether as by a series of bolts at 14 Patented Nov. 28, 1%61 adjacentone edge of the device, as indicated at 16. As shown in FIG. 3,these'plates are in flatwise contact along surfaces 18 but intermediatethe longitudinal edges thereof they are provided with complementary gapsforming a chamber as at 2%, a narrower chamber at 22, these chambersbeing connected by a relatively deep chamber 24, there being anotherchamber 26 corresponding to chamber 24 at the opposite end of chamber22. As clearly shown inFlG. 5, these plates 10 and 12 are made'to firmlyimpinge upon each other at theextrerne'end edge opposite the-securementedge 16. The tip or edge of member 12 extends slightly beyond thecorrespondingtip or edge of member 10 and these tips are indicated bythe reference numerals 28 and 36 respectively. As-shown in FIG. 3, thetip 30 is cut back or recessed along an angle as shown at 32 so that tip30 impinges on the blade B along a line contact 34 and there is at alltimes a small triangular chamber between the inclined surface 32 and theflat or straight surface indicated at 36 on the tip 28.

Tip 28 of member 12 continues inwardly from the area 36 in a transversedirection forming an abutment surface at 38 (FIGS. 5 and 6) againstwhich the blade "B is positioned at its inner edge. The blade B ofcourse may be reversed when the exposed edge is worn, or it can beremoved and replaced.

The two chambers 24 and 26 serve to provide for the reception oftransverse sealing'members indicated at 40, and the chamber 22 is an airchamber being supplied with air through a hose secured into a fitting'44 bolted at 46 to the two members It) and 12. The bolts 46 are offsetso that the plates 19 and 12 are not rigidly connected adjacent theblade-clamping tips 28 and '30. In other words,the'members act in thenature of a parallel bar linkage so that a slight motion to and awayfrom each other is allowed between the members wand 12 at the tips inorder to release the blade. It ispointed out that FIG. 4 shows the airpressure On and the members lit) and l2 s aced apart suiiicieutly toremove and apply a new blade, and in FIG. 5 the jaws are shown closetogether. Even when closed in this way, thejaws impinge upon each otherwith considerable force due to the formation of the plates it) and '12imparting tension one upon the other except in the region of thechambers. Fitting 44 may be provided with gasket 45 and this .leaksdobleed the air when the air pressure is turned off as ,for instance by aconventional valve 50.in.the..hose 42.

In the event that it is desired to hold a relatively thick blade, thetwotipsfis and 30 willof course 'be made so .that originally they arespaced apart but with less spacing than the thickness of the blade tobeheld thereby.

it will be seen from inspection of FIG. 3 that the arrangernent of theblade B angularly withrespect to'the rolls at D and W show therespective usage of the blade .at a low angle with'respect to the :rollwhen used as a doctor blade and at a steeper angle when used as a wipingblade at -W.

When the fluid pressure is: turned on, the tips. 28 and 30 are forcedapart and the bladeican beiremoved-manually. When the new blade hasbeen-inserted, the pressure is merely turned oft andtheblade-clamping'me'mbers immediately grip the blade along its length. Theforce to grip the blade is inherent in plates 10 and 12 and'the arepreferably located remotely with respect to fasteners 14 and adjacentthe tips 28 and 30.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

l. A blade holder comprising a plurality of members normally held inblade-clamping position, means for temporarily separating said memberssufiiciently to release said blade, said blade separating meanscomprising means for introducing fluid under pressure between saidmembers.

2. A device of the class described comprising a plurality ofarticle-holding members, said members being secured together, meansforming a chamber between said members, means forming article-holdingjaws on said members, said jaws being normally held rigidly together,and means for introducing fluid under pressure into said chamber forseparating said jaws for the removal and replacement of an article.

3. A device of the class described comprising a plu rality ofsubstantially rigid resilient members fixedly secured together adjacentcorresponding areas thereof, areas of said members remote from thesecurement area being capable of a relatively small amount of flexurefor separation, said remote areas forming article-holding jaws and beingnormally held in clamping position by the inherent resiliency of saidrigid members, means for introducing fluid under pressure between saidmembers for retracting the jaws away from each other to an extent torelease an article clamped in said jaws.

4. The device of claim 3 including means forming a chamber between saidmembers into which the fluid under pressure is adapted to be introduced,and means providing for the release of said fluid under pressuretherefrom.

5. The device of claim 3 including mechanical means for separating thejaws.

6. A device of the class described comprising a plurality ofsubstantially rigid but resilient members, means securing the sametogether in flatwise contacting relationship, said means being locatedat a certain area thereof, a remote area of said members beingunconnected and forming article-clamping jaws, said jaws being normallypressed together under the inherent resiliency of said members, meansforming a chamber between said members, and means for introducing afluid under pressure into said chamber for forcing said jaws apart to anextent to allow the article to be removed therefrom, the securement areabeing undisturbed under the presence of pressure in the chamber.

7. The device as recited in claim 6 wherein said chamber comprisesrecesses in certain of said members so that the fluid pressure impingesupon all of said members to separate the same, and sealing meansadjacent one end of the chamber adjacent the jaws to prevent the fluidfrom escaping when the jaws become separated.

8. A device as recited in claim 6 including a gasket closing at leastone end of said chamber, said gasket leaking to allow the slow escape offluid therefrom.

9. A blade holder comprising a pair of metallic, rigid, resilientmembers, said members being substantially flat and being securedtogether in flatwise contacting relationship, means securing saidmembers together adjacent corresponding edges thereof, the oppositecorresponding edges being free of each other but inherently pressedtogether by the resilience of the metal members and formingblade-holding jaws which hold the blade by the inherent resiliency ofsaid members, means for separating said jaws sufliciently to remove theblade held therein,

said means comprising means to admit or shut ofi the fluid underpressure between the members.

10. A device as recited in claim 9 including a fluid chamber betweensaid members, a gasket closing at least one end of said chamber, saidgasket allowing the escape of fluid therefrom when the jaws are closed.

11. A blade holder comprising a pair of substantially rigid, resilientmembers having the quality of permitting a slight flexure, said membersbeing substantially fiat, means securing said members together adjacentcorresponding edges thereof, the opposite corresponding edges being freeof each other but inherently pressed together by the resilience of themembers and forming blade-holding jaws holding the blade by the inherentresiliency of said members, means for separating said jaws suflicientlyto remove the blade held therein, said separating means comprising meansfor introducing fluid under pressure between said members, saidseparating means including recesses in at least one of said membersforming a chamber between the members, and sealing means preventing theescape of fluid under pressure from said chamber toward the jaws.

12. A blade holder comprising a pair of substantially rigid, resilientmembers, said members being substantially flat and being securedtogether in flatwise contacting relationship, means securing saidmembers together adjacent corresponding edges thereof, oppositecorresponding edges being free of each other but inherently pressedtoward each other into blade-clamping relation by the resilience of themembers and forming clamping jaws holding the blade, means forseparating said jaws to remove a blade held therein, said jaw-separatingmeans comprising a source of fluid under pressure, means to admit fluidunder pressure inbetween the members, and means to shut off the fluidunder pressure.

13. A device as recited in claim 12 wherein one of said clamping jawsstops short of the other and is provided with a relatively inclinedadjacent face so that the shorter jaw bears upon the longer jaw along aline contact at the extreme edge of the shorter jaw but inwardly of theextreme edge of the longer jaw.

14. A device for clamping a blade comprising a pair of substantiallyrigid inherently resilient elongated members, said members beingsubstantially flat and contacting each other in substantially flatrelationship, means fastening said members together along correspondingedges thereof leaving the opposite edges unconnected, said unconnectededges being caused to strongly impinge upon each other formingblade-holding jaws by the inherent resiliency of said members, meansforming a chamber between said members, the chamber being locatedbetween the fastening means and said jaws, means for introducing fluidunder pressure into said chamber for separating said jaws, sealing meansbetween said chamber and the jaws preventing escape of the fluid, andmeans for turning the pressure on and off.

15. A device as recited in claim 14 wherein one jaw is shorter than theother and bears on the same in a line contact.

16. A device as recited in claim 14 including means for bleeding thefluid under pressure when the pressure is shut otl from said chamber toallow the fluid to escape from said chamber and the jaws to close.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,449,824 Lent Mar. 27, 1923

